Bassassin

I've been musing over the idea of a fretted/fretless double neck for a couple of years - I knocked up a rough idea of how such a beast might work: Theoretically it wouldn't be physically that much bigger than a conventional bass - my idea would be to make the body myself & everything else should be pretty easy to source. My band does have a song or two which would benefit from some slidiness - and the pose value is incalculable... Jon.

Better off grabbing this [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-MAYA-Precision-bass-neck-tuners-Japan-70s_W0QQitemZ320395966471"]Maya P neck[/url] & finding a body that hasn't been refinished with phlegm. Obviously a week for Mayas - just spotted this [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/70s-LEFT-HANDED-MAYA-JAZZ-BASS-in-TRI-COLOUR-SUNBURST_W0QQitemZ250458553308"]southpaw J[/url] ending in a few hours, currently at £122. Recession? J.

Here's a couple of under-the-radar 70s copies which might be of interest: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=140332609892"]Hohner P copy - £75 BIN[/url] This is apparently MIJ which means it's a Moridaira, not top-drawer JapCrap but pretty damn good. Might be a ply body or maybe a top/back veneer on butcher block. Collection only. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=320396472967"]CMI Jazz copy - 3-day stealth listing[/url] Unsure of the maker here but CMI is quite collectable. Zero-feedback seller, collection only, 3-day list & invisible description means someone will get this for buttons. If I was near Milton Keynes it would be me. Jon.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' post='538103' date='Jul 11 2009, 07:47 PM']That crack in the back of the Ibanez will be the neck slowly creeping forwards due to the pickup cavity being too close to the end of the fingerboard. As it creeps, the neck angle will be changing and the action getting higher and higher. It happened to one I used to own - there just isn't much gluing surface with that huge pickup rout there. And the pickup on mine was a skinny little single coil under the cover anyway - what were they thinking when they chose that pickup for this bass?[/quote] Real Ricks were prone to this - possibly why the pickup was moved on later ones - and my Matsumoku copy has flexed at this point (no cracks) & has a very high action. All just symptomatic of 35-odd years of string tension, and other than filing down saddles & sinking bridges into bodies, there's not a lot can be done about it. Ironically the bolt-neck Ibanez has a sensible-sized neck pup, the same as the bridge unit on this bass. ChrisAngryman - got any pics of your CMI? Jon.

[quote name='guzzibass' post='537259' date='Jul 10 2009, 03:13 PM']'won' this Ibby Roadstar 11 today, - looking forward to collecting and checkin it out!! [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140331333460&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2Fitems%2F%3F_nkw%3D140331333460%26_sacat%3D0%26_trksid%3Dp3286.m270.l1313%26_odkw%3D14033133346%26_osacat%3D0%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...%3D1&_rdc=1[/url][/quote] Great score for £120! Very surprised it went as low as that. J.

[quote name='Musky' post='537321' date='Jul 10 2009, 04:54 PM']Any idea when the Grecos were being built by both FujiGen and Mat, Jon? Come to that, do you have any idea when Mat were using their different neck plate (Accurate Bolt On System, Adjustable Steel Neck and the ones saying just Made in Japan)?[/quote] It's hard to be completely certain about Grecos because these were predominantly copies, which tended to look quite similar! My inferences come from the catalogue scans on [url="http://psyco.jp/greco/cata.html"]this site[/url] & my worrying ability to ID certain JapCrap Rick copies from 100 metres. The very early catalogues show both Fujigen & Aria logos in their credits - fortunately in English! Kanda Shokai owns Greco & presumably contracted Fujigen directly & Matsumoku through Shiro Arai Co for the early 70s instruments. The catalogues show both Mat & Fujigen versions of 4001 basses up until 1976. The Mat copies were much more accurate, but the more ornate Fujigens sold at a higher price, presumably due to the extra bling! By around '76 the Fujigen design had been revised to be less inaccurate so it appears they dropped the cheaper Mat version because there was little distinction between the two by then. Beyond that point I'm unsure, although I've seen a Greco PB750 (P/J copy with unusual 16-pole J-sized pup in the bridge pos) with a '78 Mat plate. Mat plates themselves are confusing - it does appear they used various different styles & combinations of details at the same time. The classic pre '75 plate is the Steel Adjustable Neck/MIJ/Serial style - these go back to the late 60s (as far as I can tell) and early ones can sometimes read "Steel Reinforced", and one or other of the other bits can be missing. The serials are generally assumed to be random (twin-necks with completely unrelated numbers seem to bear this out) but of course might not be - maybe no-one's found the right enchantment yet... Anyway, to confuse things more, proper sequential serialisation seems to have appeared around 1975, along with Matsumoku-stamped plates. Original model Arias seem to have got Accurate Bolt Ons - but the different permutations still crop up. I've seen Westone Thunders with Steel Adjustable + sequential serial - and also with Mat plates & 2 different sorts of serial. It's horribly confusing & my head hurts and I'd like to claim my prize for Dull & Confused BC Post Of The Year. J.

Spartacus is probably right about the numbering - there was an odd period of Matsumoku using several different serial formats & this type appears to be the same as used by Fujigen, & therefore Ibanez. This is possibly due to the fact that Grecos were being built by Mat & Fujigen simultaneously, & both factories were producing some of the same models, so they kept the serial numbers consistent. Looks like some of the same plates ended up on other brands too. Simple, innit? I couldn't really guess at value but I'd have that for £70, no sweat! Jon.

You're expected to understand gibberish like "walnut blem-blem". You're expected to believe these aren't ten-for fifty-quid Taiwanese cheapos with zero quality control. Other than that it's a pretty nice-looking bass and probably great if you either have a massive lucky streak or get off on the element of risk. Jon.

[quote name='karlfer' post='536988' date='Jul 10 2009, 07:13 AM']THATS a challenge I shall look forward to![/quote] Look forward to it! Here's another Hondo, with a black refin that would probably scratch off in half an hour: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=390066883099"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=390066883099[/url] This one uses the "R" word so will probably get pulled, contacting the seller to get their username is probably a good idea for interested parties. J.

[quote name='karlfer' post='535491' date='Jul 8 2009, 10:26 AM']Thanks J, in the process. So jealous of you, having a Kasuga. Still have photo on wall from 1980, brandishing mine at a 5000+ outdoor gig in Darlington. Had 3 real R's since, all long gone, but the Kasuga is still remembered as the best. Cost £110 on HP she did. Sold her in 85 to buy Gibbo Explorer bass. Happy days.[/quote] You missed a lovely Fireglo Kasuga a couple of weeks back - for some reason the listing's gone now but there are pics of it here: [url="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=78514186083&ref=mf"]http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=78514186083&ref=mf[/url] You should put your pic from 1980 on there. Jon.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='536271' date='Jul 9 2009, 10:49 AM']Welcome back to the pick brotherhood.[/quote] You [b]never[/b] leave... :ph34r: J.

You can post pics if you save them on your pc and then upload them to BC as attachments. If the neck repair's good, the price is good too - a nice one of these can go for upwards of £500. The fact it has a repair probably means you have a bit of haggle-space too, you might get it for £250, in fact if it's a private sale, that's what the seller's probably expecting to get. Thumb rests weren't standard on these! Jon.

That's foul, even by Warwick standards. Jon.

Well - definitely no custom builds for me! At practice tonight I was afflicted with an horrific pain in the back of my right hand when playing - so I had no alternative other than returning to the pick. I was a little bit concerned that the subtlety & nuance of my playing would suffer as a result, but soon discovered that my bass parts require no subtlety whatsoever! It was surprisingly liberating. Looking forward to an hour and a half of plastic-fisted bludgeoning on Friday night then. J.

Not true - there are loads of people on here who appreciate the Matsumoku-built Arias form the 70s & 80s, and acknowledge their more recent output as decent budget instruments. I've had an Aria RSB-Deluxe 2 for years and also own a recent STB-GT and an AMB-50 acoustic - but I can't answer your IGB question & have no idea if £80 is a good price for one. For what it's worth the active pre on my STB is pointless & rapidly drains batteries when not in use, I'm going to bin it & replace it with a passive circuit, and replace the MM-type 'bucker with a beefier one with splittable coils. Jon.

[quote name='Snakeman1066' post='534372' date='Jul 7 2009, 05:45 AM']Still got her mate! Just not digging her clean tone.... here in the U.S. the split pick guard is less desireable to collectors than the one piece models......so they tend to be less expensive than the other models[/quote] Strange! Wonder why that is? As fas as I know, these were the very first 4003s, featuring revised truss rods. The rods adjust at the heel end which is why the guard 2-piece, I don't think they made them that way for long - so you'd think their comparative rarity would make them more desirable. Jon.

I did the tailpiece on my Frankenbugger Rick copy: [attachment=28390:fgtailpiece.jpg] This is what it looked like when I got it, on a different bass: [attachment=28391:mat4001orig05.jpg] Obviously a lot of the original plating was gone - as was some of the metal where all that weird oxidation & corrosion is. Some of this was taken back to the metal because the plating was half-gone, but a lot of the chrome was just roughened with wire wool to give a key for the paint. There's 4 or 5 coats of grey primer over the bare metal, and a subsequent 10+ coats of matt black over that. I left it for a fortnight after spraying before I fitted it - spray paint takes a long time to properly harden after initial drying. Because of all the layers of paint, I had to scrape it back to the metal inside the well where the bridge sits - it wouldn't fit otherwise. It's worth bearing in mind that nothing else is really in contact with this part - I think the paint would tend to flake on tuners or bridge saddles. Jon.

Since you're only down the road from the guy selling the Hondo, why not ask if he'd be OK for you to go round & have a tryout? He might well be prepared to do a cash deal off-Ebay, he plainly knows the problems that selling one can involve - I'm pretty sure this one's been on before & was pulled. J.

[quote name='BenK' post='531833' date='Jul 3 2009, 04:56 PM'][font="Century Gothic"][center] Dont know if i'm right here,but [url="http://www.curlymusic.co.uk/index.pl?browse=categories&id=281"]but these undbranded[/url] ones look like they came out the same factory. anyone know?[/center][right][/right][/font][/quote] There really isn't any way of telling, when you consider that every single guitar factory in China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea & probably every other country whose name ends in "a" will turn out thousands of P & J copies. I've no idea where SX basses are sourced from, and in fact I'd be very surprised if they all came from the same factory anyway. Finding a good cheap copy is pot luck, and it was ever thus. Jon.

Another vote for JD black nylon 1mm. Nice textured gripping area, plus a little bit of flex in the pick makes it slightly more expressive & subtle than rigid picks imo. .73mm grey Dunlops for g*it*r. Jon.

'Nother Hondo: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/hondo-ll-classic-bass-copy_W0QQitemZ320393608190"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/hondo-ll-classic-bas...emZ320393608190[/url] Has this one been up before? Looks a bit familiar. J.

[quote name='molan' post='532942' date='Jul 5 2009, 01:05 PM']Here's the 'Sunbursy' listing [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Sunbursy-Bass-Guitars_W0QQitemZ260440925098QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item3ca37d23aa&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A10|66%3A2|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A2|294%3A50#ebayphotohosting"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Sunbursy-Bas...bayphotohosting[/url] And the great pic of a 'flying' bass (with washing line attachment) . . .[/quote] Funny thing is it's "sunbursy" in both the title & the text. It would be odd to make the same typo twice - what's he trying to say? Reminds me of a guy on the local Glumtree who keeps listing a pair of "Bass Pins" for sale! Jon.